IRAN ACCUSES SAUDI ARABIA OF “WAHABBI TERRORISM” FOR ATTACKS ON YEMENI REBELS

Posted By on November 18th, 2009

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avBekro8T3K4&pos=9

Iran Says Saudi Attacks on Yemeni Rebels Are State ‘Terrorism’
By Paul Tighe and Henry Meyer

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) — Iran’s top general denounced Saudi Arabia’s air strikes against rebels in Yemen as the start of “state terrorism” that may have consequences throughout the Middle East.

The Saudi government must realize the danger of continuing “Wahhabi terrorism,” Iran’s state-run Press TV cited Major General Hassan Firouzabadi as saying in a statement late yesterday in Tehran.

Saudi Arabia two weeks ago began air attacks on Shiite Muslim rebels who seized territory on the 1,500 kilometer (930- mile) border its shares with Yemen. Saudi Arabia said Nov. 8 it regained control of its territory.

Yemen accuses Shiite-led Iran of arming the Houthi rebels, who have been fighting the government in the northwestern province of Saada since 2004. Wahhabism, a strict Sunni Muslim movement, is the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.

The Yemen conflict is the prelude for regional conflicts to come, Press TV cited Firouzabadi as saying. The war is the result of efforts by the U.S. and U.K. to cause rifts among Muslims around the world, he said.

Iran’s parliament two days ago condemned Saudi involvement in the Yemen conflict.

“How can the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques bring himself to permit the killing of innocent Muslims?” Press TV cited Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as saying, referring to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. The kingdom is home to Islam’s holy cities of Medina and Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed and the site of the Grand Mosque.

Soldiers Killed

Rebels killed two Saudi soldiers in a cross-border incursion on Nov. 13 in the Jabal al-Dokhan mountains area, the Saudi-owned daily newspaper As Sharq al-Awsat reported at the time, citing military officials. At least five Saudi soldiers have been killed since fighting began on Nov. 4, according to Saudi media.

Iranians are “cooperating in sin and aggression” by supporting the Houthis, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, said two days ago, according to the al- Watan newspaper.

The Yemeni navy said it seized an Iranian-crewed ship carrying weapons off the coast near a rebel stronghold on Oct. 26. Iran denied any involvement. The Saudi government says its warships are patrolling the Red Sea to prevent arms reaching the Houthi rebels.

Yemen’s government accuses the Houthis of trying to reinstall the rule of Shiite imams who were toppled by a republican revolution in northern Yemen in 1962. The rebels, named after their leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, say they want a greater role for their Zaydi version of Shiite Islam and are revolting against corruption in the government and its alliance with the U.S.

To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net; Henry Meyer in Dubai at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 17, 2009 18:46 EST

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